ETSU tied for fifth after two rounds of play at TPC Sawgrass

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 4, 2013) – A pair of freshmen highlighted the ETSU men’s golf team following the first two rounds of the Sea Best Invitational on Monday afternoon from the PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. Adrian Meronk (Wroclaw, Poland) enters Tuesday’s final round tied for fourth after carding a 1-over-par 145 (71-74), while Chris Hickman (Centreville, Md.) sits in a five-way tie for 19th.

Meronk, who began the day with back-to-back birdies, was one of only four golfers to post a score under par after the first 18 holes of play. The Buccaneer freshman actually birdied three of his four holes to start the day, but after another stretch of consecutive birdies on the 394-yard, par-4 No. 1 and 532-yard, par-5 No. 2, Meronk stubbed his toe by registering bogeys on two of his last five holes to move back to 1-under 71 for the round. Unfortunately, Meronk struggled in the early portion of the second round as he tallied three straight bogeys, but the Wroclaw, Poland native got back on track with a birdie on 156-yard, par-3 13th and again on No. 1. However, Meronk bogeyed two of the final six holes to end the day and generated the 2-over 74 in the second round.

Meanwhile, Hickman finished with consecutive rounds of 76 on Monday, and moved from 22nd to tied for 19th after firing an 8-over 152.

Tennessee claimed the mark on the individual and team leaderboards, as Rick Lamb – the 72nd ranked golfer according to Golf Stat – takes an eight shot lead into the final round on Tuesday. Lamb carded an impressive 7-under 65 in the second round and is at 9-under 135 following the first 36 holes. Lamb’s teammate, Jay Vandeventer, is in second after posting a 1-under-par 143 (74-69). The 26th ranked Volunteers also hold the team lead as Tennessee is six shots ahead of No. 30 Texas A&M. Tennessee is 3-over-par (300-279--579), while the Aggies ended the day at 9-over 585 (289-296).

ETSU wrapped up the afternoon in a tie for fifth with Old Dominion. The Bucs finished the opening round with a score of 309, while bouncing back with a 301 in round two.

The third and final round begins at 8 a.m. Tuesday, with the Bucs getting underway at 8:50. Once again, GolfStat.com will carry live scoring.

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For more information on Buccaneer men’s golf, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men’s golf page.